Leadership Team
Experienced professionals providing specialized advisory services with extensive regional knowledge and operational expertise.
Syed Jafri
Co-Director
Syed brings over three decades of comprehensive engineering and energy leadership, having directed projects exceeding 15 GW of installed capacity valued at more than $10 billion across global markets. His expertise spans renewable energy development, power generation, and large-scale infrastructure projects throughout the Middle East and South Asia.
As former Chief Executive Officer of Jamshoro Power Company in Pakistan, he managed a 1,000 MW state-owned generation facility with an additional 1,320 MW coal-fired project funded by $1.2 billion in Asian Development Bank and Islamic financing. His regional experience includes serving as USAID Chief of Party for the Palestinian Energy Project, overseeing critical infrastructure development in complex operational environments.
Education: MS Architectural Engineering, North Carolina A&T State University; BS Mechanical Engineering, North Carolina A&T State University
Michael Pochna
Co-Director
Michael brings extensive venture capital and asset management expertise developed over six decades of international investment activity. As Managing Director of Dexter Capital Limited, he maintains advisory relationships with premier institutions including Guggenheim Partners, The Carlyle Group, Partners Group, and Omega Advisors, facilitating sophisticated cross-border investment strategies.
His operational leadership includes the successful restructuring of Diversified Industries, a NYSE-listed manufacturer, which he took private and transformed into United Recycling Industries before its strategic sale to Sims Group in 2007. His international partnerships through Lansdowne Limited in Paris and Asian Oceanic Group in Hong Kong provide deep expertise in complex emerging market transactions and regulatory environments.
Education: BA, Harvard University; Le Rosey and Deerfield Academy
Whitley Bruner
Co-Director
Whitley brings exceptional Middle Eastern regional expertise developed through nearly three decades of operational experience across Iraq, Egypt, Algeria, Yemen, Israel, Lebanon, and Tunisia. As President of Middle East Initiatives, Inc. and Director of Middle East and North Africa for Asia Africa Projects Group, he specializes in complex business development and risk assessment in challenging operational environments.
His consultancy work focuses on economic development initiatives, with particular emphasis on post-sanctions Sudan and emerging opportunities throughout the Arab world. He maintains extensive relationships with regional leadership and possesses operational fluency in Arabic and French, enabling authentic engagement with local stakeholders across diverse Middle Eastern markets.
Education: BA French Literature, Harvard University (Magna Cum Laude); National War College (National Security Studies); Graduate studies in Arabic and Russian, Harvard University
Collective Experience
Our leadership team combines over sixty years of collective professional experience with authentic regional expertise and deep cultural understanding of international business practices.
This unique combination of analytical rigor and regional fluency enables us to provide strategic guidance and advisory services in complex operational environments.